Predictive overbooking maximizes endoscopy clinic scheduling: 5 study insights

Endoscopy clinics that utilize a "predictive overbooking" scheduling method may be able to mitigate the effects of canceled and missed patient appointments, according to a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The researchers alternated between traditional booking and predictive overbooking for a 34-week period at an outpatient endoscopy clinic. They compared booking methods by measuring service utilization and length of the workday.

Here's what you need to know:

1. The clinic's predictive overbooking system identified patients at high risk for canceling or missing scheduled procedures by assigning each patient a risk score based on EHR data. The physicians offered these high-risk patients' appointments to other patients on short notice.

2. When the clinic used a traditional booking system, an average of 2.5 slots were available each week. During these weeks, patients occupied 86 percent of the clinic's daily capacity.

3. When the clinic used a predictive overbooking system, an average of 0.35 slots were available each week. During these weeks, patients occupied 100 percent of the clinic's daily capacity.

4. The predictive overbooking system allowed 111 additional patients to undergo gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures.

5. Physician and staff overages were present, but were less than researchers had anticipated. Physicians and staff worked a workday length of 7.84 hours during the weeks with traditional booking and a workday length of 8.31 during the weeks with predictive overbooking.

The researchers concluded that, by mitigating the treatment delays and financial loss associated with canceled or missed appointments, a predictive overbooking system can maximize patient scheduling.

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